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Inmates blame booze for crimes, sue beer companies

Five inmates in Idaho are suing several beer companies, claiming the companies didn't warn them alcohol could be addictive and they never would have ended up in jail if it wasn't for alcohol.

Inmate Keith Allen Brown filed the suit, which seeks a total of $1 billion in compensatory and punitive damages from 10 major beer and wine companies, in December, according to The Associated Press. His co-plaintiffs are Jeremy Joseph Brown, Cory Alan Baugh, Woodrow John Grant and Steven Todd Thompson.

Brown wrote in the suit he spent a "great deal of time in prison" due to "situations in which alcohol played a major role,” and that he was never "informed that alcohol was habit forming and addictive” before he became an alcoholic, according to the Idaho Statesman.

The lawsuit also states the inmates "would have lead normal lives as productive members of society" if it wasn't for alcohol, according to the AP.

The companies, which include Miller Brewing Company, Anheuser-Busch Co., Adolph Coors Co. and others, have not yet responded to the lawsuit, according to the Idaho Statesman.

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